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Posted at 2:30 PM EST.

N.Y. RANGERS -½ +138 over Winnipeg

7:05 PM EST. Regulation only. We’re pretty sure you have all heard the concerns regarding the Jets and frankly, they’re all true. There was a talent exodus for the Jets this summer, leaving big holes on the defensive end, which is a massive problem. The Jets traded one of their best defensemen, Jacob Trouba, to New York then saw another two blue-line regulars (Tyler Myers and Ben Chiarot) sign elsewhere in free agency. Then on the eve of training camp, Dustin Byfuglien announced he was taking a leave of absence from the team, reportedly to ponder his future. The list of free-agent departures is significant: Brandon Tanev, Myers, Trouba, Chiarot, Mark Dano, Matt Hendricks, Par Lindholm, Joe Morrow and Kevin Hayes. The Jets added forwards Andrei Chibisov, Gabriel Bourque, Mark Letestu plus defensemen Anthony Bitetto and Neal Pionk. Winnipeg ranked fifth last in the NHL in shots against per game last year with an elite defense, which suggests the forwards weren’t helping out much. Now take away Trouba, Chiarot, Myers, Morrow and Byfuglien and it’s a real crap shoot to try and guess what will happen. Also note that two of Winnipeg’s best players, Kyle Connor and Patrik Laine didn’t sign until early last week and they may not be up to speed. Winnipeg will be interesting to watch early on but if the dropoff is significant, the market will catch up quickly so the time to try and take advantage is right now.

Enter the New York Rangers, a team we backed more often than we care to admit last year and will continue right where we left off. The Rags had one of the best off-seasons of any team this summer, with highlights including adding a top prospect in the draft and one of the best RFA defensemen on the market. General manager Jeff Gorton made a savvy trade for Trouba over from Winnipeg, where he was always overshadowed by other defensemen. But Trouba is coming off a career-high 50 points and has the two-way skill set to be a top-pairing guy.

With the No. 2 pick of the draft, the Rangers selected dynamic scoring winger Kaapo Kakko, an early favorite for the Calder Trophy. They also won free agency's top prize by signing Artemi Panarin to a seven-year, $81.5 million deal. New York's blue line improved with top-pairing defenseman Trouba while rookies Adam Fox and Libor Hajek will get the chance to prove themselves. Fox helped run what was the No. 1 power play in college hockey for most of the year. He pushed his team offensively on the man advantage and at even strength, while contributing on 48 of his team’s 103 goals. Fox led the NCAA with 1.45 points per game and did not look a bit out of place during the preseason. Libor Hajek also made the team out of camp because Coach David Quinn said he deserved to. Said Quinn about Hajek, “He’s a great skater, he is quick with his decision-making below the tops of the circles in our end plus he’s physical on the puck."

All eyes will be on Kakko on the right wing, but look for Pavel Buchnevich to take the next step. Buchnevich gets a golden opportunity to play on the top line alongside Mika Zibanejad and Panarin. The second line with consist of Kakko, Ryan Strome and Chris Kreider. That’s a stacked tip six and the clunkers (bottom 6) are decent too. The Rangers may be the league’s most improved team this year and we’ll gladly put that to the test on opening night on Broadway.

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